Museum of American Finance (New York, NY)The Museum of American Finance will unveil the display of an 18-karat solid gold Monopoly set covered with hundreds of precious gemstones, on loan from the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural Historyâ€¦READ MORE

Museum of American Finance To Display Jeweled Monopoly Set and Host Tournamentâ€¦READ MORE

Polk Museum of Art (Lakeland, FL)Polk Museum of Art is pleased to announce that it has been accepted into the Smithsonian Affiliations Programâ€¦READ MOREÂ

Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences (Peoria, IL)Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences has been awarded a $10,000 Arts Education Invitational Grants Initiative grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to digitize the Picture Person Program educational kitsâ€¦READ MORE

Hunt Hill Farm (New Milford, CT)â€¦The Smithsonian curator who got the ball rolling was Rayna Green, curator and director of the American Indian Program, Division of Home and Community Life, who will present â€œIn Juliaâ€™s Kitchenâ€â€¦READ MORE

Historic Tredegar: The Regionâ€™s Gateway to the Civil Warâ€¦READ MORE

National Museum of American Jewish History (Philadelphia, PA)On November 12th, the National Museum of American Jewish History will reopen in its new location at Independence Mall. The weekend of celebration will feature performances by Jerry Seinfeld and Bette Midlerâ€¦READ MORE

Two of the countryâ€™s most famous Jewish performers will highlight the opening of one of the most ambitious Jewish museum projects in yearsâ€¦READ MORE

Smithsonian Magazine Museum DayEverybody loves a freebie and this Saturday, September 25, marks Smithsonian magazineâ€™s 6th Annual Museum Day, when more than 1,500 museum and cultural venues across the United States will honor Smithsonian.comâ€™s special get-in-free ticket for twoâ€¦READ MORE

The original Kermit the Frog arrived at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH) yesterday. Kermit made his television debut in 1955 as part of a local Washington D.C. television show created by Jim Henson called “Sam and Friends.” Henson’s widow, Jane Henson, donated the original Kermit along with the other puppets from the show. The original Kermit isn’t as green as younger Muppet fans may remember and was fashioned by Henson using his mother’s discarded winter coat. The collection will go on exhibit sometime in November.Â

Visitors to the Orange County Regional History Center meet Kermit face-to-face in the SITES exhibition "Jim Henson's Fantastic World."

Affiliates across the nation have collaborated with the Smithsonian to showcase Jim Hensonâ€™s characters, whether through a SITES exhibition or through individual artifact loans.Â Here are some highlights of Muppet sightings in Affiliate-land:Â Â

The Kermit the Frog that is already in NMAHâ€™s collection was first loaned in 1979, in celebration of Sesame Streetâ€™s 10th anniversary. In 1994, Jim Henson Productions designated Kermit as a gift, making him a permanent fixture in NMAHâ€™s performance collections. In 2005, NMAH loaned him to The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (Dubuque, Iowa) Â to be included in their exhibition Toadally Frogs!Â

Oscar the Grouch and five additional puppets, also on loan from NMAH, made an appearance at Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts(Flushing, New York) in 2006 in their exhibition With or Without Strings.Â

Through the Affiliations network, communities across the country have had the opportunity to experience Jim Hensonâ€™s lovable characters in their neighborhoods.Â You can read more about Kermitâ€™s new home at NMAH here:

Itâ€™s August! Here are a few things you can see at a Smithsonian Affiliate in your neighborhood this month:

AlabamaLet Your Motto Be Resistance, a Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES)Â exhibition, opens at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute(Birmingham) on August 28.

Anacostia's (then Uniontown) Birney Public School children lined up with a teacher behind the Kennebec Ice horse-drawn wagon as the ice man shows them large chunk of ice suspended by tongs. Photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston, Courtesy of the Library of Congress, circa 1899

KentuckyOpening this month at the Headley-Whitney Museum(Lexington) is The Horse in Decorative Arts, including artifacts from the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Museum of American History, on view through December 2010.

MontanaMontana Historical Society(Helena)- Native Words, Native Warriors.Â This exhibition organized in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian will travel to Native American reservations across Montana through December.

NebraskaLasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography is on view until September 2010 at the Durham Museum(Omaha), organized for travel by SITES.

WyomingLast chance to see Buffalo Billâ€™s Wild West Warriors: Photographs by Gertrude KÃ¤sebier at Buffalo Bill Historical Center (Cody). On view until August 8, the exhibition includes photographs from the Photographic History Collection in the National Museum of American History.

Buffalo Bill Historical Center (Cody, WY)As many as 38 Wyoming cultural and heritage projects and sponsoring organizations will benefit from $542,017 in grant awards from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund…MORE

Birthplace of Country Music Alliance (Bristol, TN)…Â the Tennessee Arts Commission announced its grant recipients for fiscal 2010-11…MORE

Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ)…there are a number of locations around the country that look to preserve these for future generations. One of these is the Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art in Phoenix, Arizona…MORE

National Museum of Dentistry (Baltimore, MD)…The annual celebration honors supporters and friends who help the Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate, in its mission to celebrate the history the dentistry and to raise awareness of the importance of good oral health in a healthy life…MORE

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Exterior of the new $40 million expansion of the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque.

The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium(Dubuque, IA)…”Dubuque’s already on the map,” said Jerry Enzler, executive director of the facility, “but this really puts us on the global map”…MORERiver museum gets bigger, better

American Jazz Museum (Kansas City, MO)Greg Carroll is CEO of the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City. In collaboration with the Consulate of Mexico in Kansas City and the Mattie Rhodes Center, the museum is holding an exhibition of large-scale photographs and artifacts that reveals cultural connections between Africa and Latin America…MORE
The Center for Jewish History (New York, NY)The Center for Jewish History, dedicated to the preservation and presentation of Jewish history, culture and experience across countries and generations, has received an $860,092 grant from the Leon Levy Foundation…MORE
Ellen NoÃ«l Art Museum (Odessa , TX)The Ellen NoÃ«l Art Museum has been accepted as an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution…MORE

Agua Caliente Cultural Museum (Palm Springs, CA)Since the 1970s, the Agua Caliente Band and the city have been partners in the economic development of Palm Springs…also is the site of the future Agua Caliente Cultural Museum…MORE